


Blindly Seeing

by Tea (graychalk)



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Brothers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Canon, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-22
Updated: 2012-10-22
Packaged: 2017-11-16 20:57:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/543740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graychalk/pseuds/Tea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up, Yukio may have been able to see things Rin couldn't see, but there were also plenty of things Rin could see that Yukio couldn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blindly Seeing

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place pre-series, some unspecified time early on when Rin and Yukio were young children. Prompts used: LJ community, 500 themes, prompt #151 - When eyes believe in mysteries.

"Liar!"

Teeth bared, Rin burst through the bushes and continued his single-minded dash towards the taunting voices. He could see them now, and he pushed his short legs to go faster.

"You're a liar _and_ a crybaby!"

"Shut up!" he screamed when he got close enough. "You leave Yukio alone!"

Then he leapt. Rocks meant for Yukio ricochetted off his back as he tried to shield his brother's huddled form with his own. Batting the last of those rocks away with an arm, Rin snarled and lunged at the biggest boy in the group. They tumbled to the ground together, knees and elbows slamming down on the concrete painfully, but Rin hardly paid it any heed as he swung his fists at him wildly, over and over.

_"Don't you dare hurt Yukio!"_

"N- no, stop!" A pair of arms wrapped itself around his torso, tugging insistently. "Nii-san, stop!"

The group of bullies had mostly scattered away in all directions, shrieking as they hightailed it out of the small neighborhood park and left their friend behind. He allowed Yukio to pull him to his feet but continued to glare down at the body he had pinned to the ground moments ago. The boy's face was bloodied and terrified as he tried to crawl away backwards.

"De...demon... you're a demon," the boy stuttered, voice cracking and shrill from fright, before he too scrambled to his feet and ran away screaming.

He clenched his fists, shoulders shaking with fury. _They're_ the demons, stupid bastards.

"Nii-san?"

"Yukio!" Rin whirled around to face his twin. "What happened?" he demanded, his anger forgotten. "Are you alright?"

Yukio stared at him with wide, watery eyes half-obscured by his scratched-up glasses. His cheeks were smeared with dirt and tears, but he gave a small nod. "I- I'm okay." His lips trembled, and he looked down at his feet. "Father is going to be so angry."

"I don't care," Rin said with a scowl. "We didn't do anything wrong. The old man can't get angry if we didn't do anything wrong. It's those stupid bastards' fault."

For a moment, it looked like Yukio wasn't going to reply at all. He just kept staring at his feet, refusing to even look at him.

"Oi, hey-"

"I saw them again, Nii-san," Yukio whispered, and Rin's eyes widened. "Nobody else saw them and they said I was lying but I wasn't." His words came out faster and more desperate as he continued to rant, "I wasn't lying, Nii-san! I really really saw them!"

Tears streaked down Yukio's cheeks, and he swiped so furiously at his eyes that he almost knocked his glasses right off his face.

"Who the hell cares what they say?!" Rin reached forward and yanked the glasses off. His brother gave a yelp of surprise, but he ignored it. "They're just jealous that you're smarter than them and all the teachers like you best."

Rin frowned at his own dirtied shirt but tried his best to wipe the grime off the glasses with it anyway. He lifted them towards the sky and inspected the somewhat cleaner lenses.

"But... you can't see them either... right?"

He snorted. "Like that means anything." Then he looked around and pointed to a sign several feet away. "See that, Yukio?"

"Huh?" Yukio squinted so hard his eyes may as well have been closed, and Rin couldn't help it - he laughed. " _Nii-san_ ," his brother whined, "you know I can't see anything without my glasses."

"Yeah, that's 'cause you're blind as a bat."

Yukio's face reddened. "That's not-"

"But _I_ can see it," he said. Sliding the glasses back onto his brother's nose, Rin looked him straight in the eye and grinned. "Who cares if I can't see what you can see? If Yukio says they're there, then they're there. I believe you."

Yukio stared back at him, eyes huge, and his mouth dropped open. "Nii-san..."

He reached forward and smacked Yukio in the head. "So stop being stupid already."

_"Oww..."_

Rin just grinned and clasped his hands behind his head, his feet already moving. "Let's go home, Yukio."

"Yes, Nii-san!"

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't kept up with the manga for a few months now, so I don't know if canon managed to disprove any aspect of this fic during this period. I wrote it back in March, and it was originally supposed to be a part of a longer fic, but I gave up on the idea and decided to post the snippet as a standalone scene.
> 
> Somehow, I just can't imagine Yukio not having ever said anything at all to Rin about the "weird things" he sees - at least during the very early age before Shirou realized it and before Yukio ever even began to understand what he was actually seeing. So in my head-canon, I picture something like this happening and how years later, Rin would eventually recall this and finally realize what Yukio had been seeing all that time. Or something like that anyway. :P


End file.
